


Unyielding

by lulali



Series: deconstructing a monster [4]
Category: Yandere Simulator (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Character Study, Childhood Memories, Gen, POV First Person to Third Person, Pre-Canon, switch in perspective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-12-26 13:11:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18282992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lulali/pseuds/lulali
Summary: Every step was calculated. Every step led to failure.





	Unyielding

There was no way to know if a stranger suddenly came into your life and decided to stay in it.  
  
For me, it seemed inevitable that people would stick around. There was no arrogance or self-importance to it, I just knew. Mom used to say that you attract more flies with honey, and with those same honey-lathered words, she lured in hundreds of flies. They buzzed at her whimsy, creating a cacophony of angry support and malicious slander all aimed at a single man who demanded the truth. He was vile. Repulsive.  _A monster_. A beast so inhumane to have accused such a pitiful, fragile girl of manslaughter.   
  
And just like a dog with its tail between its legs, the very same journalist was scorned into hiding.   
  
But, those are just what the newspapers say.  
  
Aishi Ryoba was your average Japanese high school student. She was in her second year. Her peers fussed over her, always grateful and always pleased. They owed a great debt to Aishi-san and were mortified at how some news hungry journalist could stoop so low in getting a story that he traumatized an innocent girl.   
  
Because of their combined anger over this crime, the student body came together and sought the help of their community. Students passed out newspapers and fliers explaining the injustice. They campaigned for everyone to call the courthouse pleading for Aishi Ryoba's innocence, pushed for reporters to spread the word, and rallied together to help out the Aishi family. Media coverage made note of the admirable unity, sending the country into a whirlwind of fascination of the case. Hundreds of thousands of millions of eyes were glued to their televisions, quietly praying for a girl they don't know to get out of this case unscathed.   
  
And just as she charmed the student body, she captivated the hearts of millions. Phone calls swarmed, emails of upset supporters flooded in, and handwritten letters were stuffed to the brim of court mailboxes. Even the judge and jury were swayed by the overwhelming support backing up this ordinary young woman, and their judgments were distorted. Sympathy intertwined itself in the closing arguments, and the journalist, as many wished, lost.   
  
The Aishi family received letters of congratulations and admiration. Many apologized and hoped for the best. Letter after letter began to blur, but overall, at that moment Aishi Ryoba became the nation's tragic heroine.   
  
However, it was said that because she suffered such great anguish over the case and the journalist's leering eyes, she packed up and moved back with her parents.  
  
The boy, who had been kept for questioning, grew sympathetic towards her plight and visited time and time again. She remained stagnant until slowly, but surely, she bloomed again from the poor, poor victim to the dazzling mastermind she was raised to be since birth. Once she had the benevolent boy soaked in honey all she had to do was consume him. Her tendrils wrapped around him, and slowly but surely, he was trapped in her web.  
  
Before anyone knew it, they eloped, and news spread like wildfire through their school. Many mourned the loss of their school's Madonna but they trudged over their remorse and celebrated the newly hitched couple. They had to, after all, they treasured their school idol and she deserved to be happy with someone she loves.   
  
_It was a long time coming,_  said one cooking club student as she placed a cake before them.   
  
Ryoba was clinging onto the boy's arm, smiling sweetly. The boy sat very still.  
  
_Beautiful! Wonderful! A tragedy turned into a phenomenal romance?! I'll get one of my best people to write a script so that we may dedicate our last play of our school lives to the both of you!_  bellowed the drama club president as he waved his rose around. Petals fluttered and danced, all following his flamboyant movements as he monologues the possible directions and props.   
  
Ryoba had her fingers laced with the boy, her smiling growing by the second. He, on the other hand, let his gaze fall timidly to his feet.  
  
_I can't believe our senpai got married before any of us! Well, I guess we gotta throw you two a party as soon as graduation comes around. Wanna spar again for old times sake or would that upset the new missus?_ joked the martial arts president as she placed her hands on her hips and gave a hearty laugh.   
  
Ryoba giggled along, seemingly amused by the simpleminded nature of the girl before her. The boy could only offer half of an awkward, struggling smile.  
  
One corner lifted, extending so much strength that he needed to take a seat on one of the sparring mats. Vigilant, he watched with sweat soaking his back as the sweet honey trap deceived anyone and everyone she could sink her claws into.  
  
My mother enjoyed retelling the story of her and father's romantic tale. Each word woven with care and detail that one would think she was in a a perpetual honeymoon phase. Hearts danced in her eyes and she often blushed in genuine joy as she recounted the number of times father glanced her way with that charming smile of his.  
  
"Ayano, you'll definitely find someone you'll do everything for and understand this feeling."  
  
When I was younger, I didn't understand and asked for elaboration on this 'feeling' - my mother wasn't the least bit displeased to answer.  
  
"Love! Pure, unadulterated love! Nothing like you see on TV! This love that I have for your father - that he has for me - is something most people could only dream of getting. You see, Ayano, you are the symbol of this love. You are the embodiment of our love. You  _are_  love."  
  
_But mom_ , I asked with a dire need to know,  _how come I don't feel that way?_  
  
She smiled at me. It was such a different smile, so warm and tender with a hint of bittersweet understanding, that it made my stomach churn.   
  
"That's because you don't love us like we love you."  
  
I think I blacked out after that. Mom never told me what happened afterwards, only that she tucked me in and promised that tomorrow, on dad's day off, we'd go to the park. Midori and Kuu would join us and we'd have a picnic and that it'd be  _great and wonderful and make up for my slip_.   
  
Knowing this pattern of sweeping things under the rug, I blankly nodded, and huddled beneath my blanket.   
  
_Mom knew that I didn't love her_.  
  
I'm not sure when it began; when the not loving her started.   
  
A part of me assumed I never did.   
  
But who was to say what was and wasn't when I was a kid. The real question was: why didn't I care to figure it out?  
  


* * *

 

Ayano stared at yet another life changing sheet of paper. The corner of it slightly bent due to a mistake on the instructor's part and askew as she turned it idly. It was laying on the face where all of the questions and potential answers were typed out and she felt sick to her stomach. She recalled the various sayings such as having butterflies in one's stomach when someone was nervous, but to Ayano, it felt like all of their wings were torn off and were slowly dissolving in their acidic graves.   
  
She eyed her pencil case and then wandered these blank glances at the name tag stuck on her desk: "Aishi Ayano." Her gaze was laser focused on the kanji used to spell her last name. AI • SHI. Love. Hate. It was such a joke of a surname that she was better off changing it to something standard like Suzuki or Tanaka or--  
  
"Yamada Hanako?"   
  
Those butterflies in her stomach left her as the most generic name actually came to life, forming into a Japanese Nadeshiko looking middle school girl. Her sheen black hair was pulled up into two pigtails with pink fluffy scrunchies and heart shaped accessories. A very damning scarlet heart clip pulled away the bangs from her face,  emphasizing her baby face and rosy cheeks. Her uniform was a simple sailor suit with a navy blue color scheme and a white trim.   
  
"Yes?" Her voice was as overly cutesy as her appearance.   
  
"You're sitting in the wrong seat." The class full of tense student all chuckled and snickered.   
  
The Yamada girl giggled, flushed, her baby face reddening to the hues of a scarlet rose, and she shuffled over to the window seat. The sunlight flooding through the glass enhanced her youthful appearance and Ayano nearly mistook her for a shoujo protagonist. She seemed the type.  
  
But Ayano had to give credit where credit was due: the girl managed to change the atmosphere from the fatigued and stressed exam students to ones whose shoulders have relaxed and their nerves suppressed. The room that suffocated every outsider here lessened its chokehold and only hovered in the background. Anxiety became white noise all because of a girl's stupid mistake. People were truly beyond comprehension.   
  
"Now then, turn your papers over..."  
  
Unlike last time, Ayano had a plan:   
  
She was going to answer once every five questions correctly and leave the rest wrong. She wasn't an idiot. She knew she could pass this entrance exam with little effort, but she didn't want to. There was no way Ayano was going to let herself get accepted into this school. Even if it meant making Midori and Kuu disappointed and her mom asking her what went wrong - "Akademi is where I met your father!" But she could picture her dad sighing and smiling in relief. And then they could return to those warm sunny days of spending time together away from the chill of their home life.  
  
For her dad's happiness, she was willing to take the dive.  

* * *

  
"That test was killer!"   
  
Ayano winced at the shrill complaint of the stupid Yamada girl. She stretched out her arms and earned a glare from their instructor. As Ayano packed up her things, her shoulder was barely brushed by a bright haired girl with twin tails and a scowl that seemed permanent on her lips.  
  
"Suck it up. This is what you get for cramming into the late night."  
  
Ayano couldn't help but sneak a glance and catch sight of the friendly impression the two girls before her displayed. The twin tail girl flicked the pig tail girl at the forehead, eliciting a squeal of displeasure.  
  
"Come on already, Hanako, or else I'm eating your lunch without you."  
  
Strange. Twin tails didn't use any honorifics. Were they  _that_  close that it didn't seem necessary?  
  
"Fua?! N -No! I'll get up! I'll get up!"  
  
Ayano left as soon as she heard implications of the stupid Yamada Hanako stumbling off her desk.   
  
"Idiot!"  
  
And shut the door behind her in the process.

**Author's Note:**

> had a slump so this one shot is a lot shorter than the last ones. i've already started on the next part so fingers crossed that i'll finish it soon. 
> 
> thank you for the interest!


End file.
